Here's a good site to check.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brown recluse

Thank you, I have seen that site and is very informative. Has anybody had them and sucessfully eradicated them...to their knowledge or does one just have to "move"? Thank you, Deb

Thank you also, I feel somewhat more confident that it can be done...buy more sticky traps and spray until the cows come home...couple of more questions please, how many did you have to deem it an infestation, were you ever bitten, and when you checked a lot of hiding places and found none..yet..did you go back and check the same spots again or is it safe to say that they pretty much stay in the same hiding places. Thank you again, Deb

What part of the country do you live in, might I ask? The reason is because I have seen a LOT of people, especially on a photo-hosting site I'm on, as well as Arachnoboards.com, post pics of what they were calling "Brown Recluses", which actually weren't. Many of these people don't even live within the range of that species. I know that male Southern House Spiders(Kukulcania hibernalis) are often mistaken for Brown Recluses, and those are very common indoors in the Southeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic states. If you DO live within the range of the Brown Recluse, moving won't do much good, since the new home is just as likely to be infested as the one you just left, since most dwellings within their range are likely to have a resident colony! You can take heart, though-bites and envenomations from this spider ia not as common as you might think, and many people live with large colonies of these in their homes, and don't even know it, and never have any problems. Do you by any chance have any clear pictures of the spiders in question?

Sharon McKenzie

Yes, a good pic will tell all. I'd get to a digital cam and photograph everybody spider you see. The site I posted previously shows a specific area of location for the BR. Since I've moved back to SEastern Virginia, I heard about a guy who got bit on both hands here in the area and the wounds look like golf ball size swellings, blackened and rotting. And my aunt in CT was bit on her thigh and they had to cut a six inch hole down to the bone to get it all.

lildeb, I have not been bitten (that I know of)....most bites will not do any damage....

The females tend to stay in the same spots and the juvies and males will be the ones you see running around in the house.

When my mom suggested she may have them, I made her save a couple in a pill bottle until I could see them for myself. I was a little shocked that we both discovered them in the same summer. (She is in the city and I am out in the boonies).

In my mudroom (where I found the mother/nest), I think I found 8 live ones....that was enough for me. In an upstairs room which I use for storage, I layed sticky traps along the baseboards and probably caught 15 or 20.....most were small, but I sprayed that room heavily.

I probably need to go through that room again.

I also spray a line with that product I recommended around the bed.

They will not come after you, they are not agressive unless startled.

One other thing, I wore those yellow dishwashing gloves when going through boxes, etc... They fit a bit tighter than ordinary gloves...just a thought.
Also, I used a pair of tongs (the big/long kind that come with grills) to pick items up. That worked great.

If you can find where the females are nesting, that would be a great start in possibly eliminating them....

As was said, if you live in the area where brown recluse are endemic -- south-central US -- you won't be able to eradicate them. Better to learn how to live with them.

Get us a pic!

Well, of course you can't be rid of them for good.

But, a regular routine CAN keep them in check (at least within your house).

Thanks to all the responses, I apologize for the delay in posting, had to go to the Kennny Chesney concert in Nashville. I thought for sure that the BR spiders were having a party here with nobody home for two days but alas, not one new capture in the traps. My residence is in Alabama. As soon as I get a pic of one that is recognizable in the sticky trap I will send. Webkat, I thank you for your information, and yes my hands were adorned with those yellow dishwashing gloves also, they work great. Next stop is Lowes to get some Ortho Home Defense, they are not going to know which way is up when I get done with them. I thank everyone for the time that they have invested in responding to my post. Thank you, Deb

Do you buy sticky mouse traps to catch the spiders? Or do you make your own out of cardboard and Tanglefoot? (A sticky substance like pine resin.)

I originally bought 8 sticky mouse traps, and then found the flat traps for insects, which are a lot bigger, both work well for me. I just started looking into the tanglefoot stuff the other day and knowing myself will probably make my own also. I am still on count 7 for bodies and wondering when the buggers are going to come out and play again. Thank you, Deb

we started seeing brown recluse around our house, I had been bit by one a week ago (and was hoping it had bit me somewhere else, nope shortly after we started seeing them all over our livingroom, kitchen (mostly under sink)). I was hoping it was from somewhere else. Now we're seeing em everywhere...it's freakin us out...we live in an apartment and my grandson (who is 2) reacts horribly to any kind of a bite, I'm terrified he'll get bit...can we bomb the apartment first then use that spray?

About a month and a half ago I had a Palmetto bug (BIG roach..yuccck) fly in while washing the windows. I live in NY where these are not found, so must have come back in someones baggage? I searched out the Garden web and found that Boric Acid (found in the drugstore) would work to get rid of them and many more critters. It did work!!! It is what is used by most companies as the main ingredient in their insecticides and poisons for small critters. It also kills mice etc. As I had 3 cats and a dog I was really concerned. But, if you put a line where pets and children cannot get at it, it should do the trick. Also, around the base of the foundation and around the door sills. Around the basement floors etc. (I kept mine confined to behind furniture, cabinets and appliances that the pets could not access) Boric acid is what dries the bodily fluids out.

*My disclaimer*... Though most say that it really isn't harmful to larger pets, cats, etc. and children....I wouldn't take that chance...as many others disagree...so be careful where you would place it. Also, don't inhale while putting down as the powder can be irritating to the lungs if openly inhaled.

I also understand that 20 mule team borax will work as well and is sold in the laundry detergent section in larger grocery stores.

Hope this helps.

chinisup, if I had a young child at risk, I would call professional exterminators. Not only can they do a better job, but the products they have for their use may be more effective AND less toxic than bombs or indoor sprays.

joy4me, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the American Cockroach (aka: Palmettobug) is found very happily NY, and nearly everywhere else, for that matter. :-) Boric acid is a very good product to use.

Hi Deb and everyone! How bad is the infestation of BR in Alabama and what areas of Alabam have the greates numbers of these pest? I am asking becuase I currently live in Germany. The area here is free of posinous spiders and such...the only problem I have here are ticks and bees. Now, I am relocationg to Fort Rucker and while doing some research I run into a website which stated that Alabama was infested with BR. How true is that? I have been in fear and unble to eat since my trip to Alabam is approaching. I have 3 little kids who I am very worried they'll get bitten. I read a lot of blogs of people getting BR bites while sleeping...that IS FREAKING ME OUT!!! I think I will have to be extremely drunk the first weeks before going to bed so I don't have to think about a BR crawling on my childres bed or mine, OR i will be like some sort of zombie not sleeping guarding my little ones from these spiders. Please help I need to get some piece of mind! All the websites I have run across are just fueling my terror even more. And since you are from Alabama who else better than you to clarify my concern.
THanks for your time!

Well of course, getting drunk is the best solution, certain to keep any self respecting Brown Recluse from biting.
I have a sworn ritual that I use to (hopefully) keep from getting bitten. I have glue traps in the basement and attic. I replace them about once a year, only because I think the glue might become less sticky. Any spiders, or insects you trap on the glue board, should be left there to serve as "bait" for other spiders. In the house, I put glue board traps inside a small box (shoe box or smaller) that has several entry holes cut in the sides along the bottom of box. These holes allow hunting spiders to enter and becom trapped, but will keep other objects from coming into accidental contact with the glue.
I NEVER slip a bare foot into any shoe without first taking the shoes in my hands and slapping the shoes together a few times with the open part of shoe facing the floor. I have never shaken a spider out, but I have some friends who have. I do the same thing with gloves, shake them out before putting your hand in. Maintain good weather stripping on all doors that lead to outdoors or an attached garage. Clothes taken from a closet or storage cabinet should be turned inside out and shaken before being put on. If you store seasonal items in the attic, basement, outdoor shed, or other place where spiders have freedom to wander at will, seal the items in boxes with a large plastic trash bag pulled over the box and tied off. Inspect the bags before bringing them inside, spiders will construct a lair of webbing between folds of these bags (on outside of bag) and may simply "freeze" inside the loose webbing and be transported right into the house to depart their digs later.
If you have such a morbid fear of being bitten that you become frantic and can't adopt some sensible practices to keep from getting bitten......Alaska is still largely "less populous". Of course there are some critters up there that will not only bite you, they'll drag you away to the forest as well.

A short video that might come in handy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM0Sa-wvTOg

AND then there's the huge problem of doctors misdiagnosing other skin lesions as "spider bites". It happens a LOT, far too much, honestly. "Spider bite" has become medical jargon for "I have no idea what that actually is so I'm going to blame a spider". This is why there are so many reported "bites" from Brown Recluse spiders far outside of their range, and in most of these cases, no spider was ever involved. MRSA and other Staph infections are often misdiagnosed as "spider bites", and so is Melanoma skin cancer. Both of those incorrect diagnoses will have devastating results for the patient and in the case of MRSA, for other people, since that is contagious. The ONLY way to be sure that a spider caused any given skin lesion or sore is to actually see the spider in the act of biting you, capture it, and have a qualified entomologist or arachnologist identify it. Very few doctors are even the least bit knowledgeable about spider identification and most quite frankly cannot distinguish a Jumping Spider from a Goliath Bird Eater. There is no reliable test for the presence of Loxosceles venom. Dr. Richard Vetter, a medical practitioner who is also an arachnologist, has written extensively on the epidemic of over-diagnoses of "spider bites" and the dangerous implications for patients and family members of patients. You can read one of his condensed articles on this problem here: Medical Myth